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surface Design
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Quilting Techniques

When I look at on Instagram, I can tell at a glance the photos posted by fiber artists: they almost always convey texture or pattern. Not just photos of fabric or fibers, but fences, grates, cracks in the sidewalk, and so on. When a fiber artist goes to Paris, she's just as likely to take a picture...

When creating quilted wall hangings , what do you use for inspiration? Many quilt artists take their cue from their own photos. Lisa Thorpe uses the Brushes3 app to 'sketch' her photo in preparation for making a wall hanging. Lisa Thorpe uses her photos as a jumping off point for her wall quilts...

A note from Vivika: Many fiber artists love dyeing fabric, but want to be sure to use chemical dyes in a safe way to protect themselves and the planet. Today, fabric dyeing expert Candy Glendening of candiedfabrics.com shares information and tips on how to dye fabric safely. Candy uses low-water immersion...

You know how one piece of sparkly jewelry or a metallic accessory can enliven an outfit? Using foil in your surface design can do the same thing for textile art. Jane Dunnewold uses fabric painting techniques, dyeing, and foiling to create her complex cloth designs, this one with an expanded square motif...

Besides being fun, thread sketching is an effective way to add details that can make your work highly realistic, including subtle color shifts, intricate textures, and a sense of dimension, according to machine stitching expert Susan Brubaker Knapp. She uses thread sketching on both her fusible appliquéd...

Looking to stir up a little fun in the kitchen? Try dyeing with resists from the kitchen! You can create many of the same effects as wax batik techniques using resists off your pantry shelf. Flour paste resist is one of the most popular of these dyeing techniques. Just mix plain flour with cold water...

What do you do if you want to design your own fabric but can't draw or paint? According to fiber artist and surface design expert Jane Dunnewold, you can scan, cut, or snap your way to fabric design. Jane Dunnewold begins a digital fabric design by laying fibers on a scanner bed. "Almost anything...

A note from Vivika: Are you confident in your free-motion embroidery ? Or do you just wish your free-motion quilting were more . . . free? Today's guest blogger, Candy Glendening, practices her free-motion motifs in sketchbooks on her hand-dyed fabric Then she turns them into a fabric book for future...

My beautiful mom with my very first quilt. My mother taught me many things. An excellent seamstress, she made most of my clothes (and those of my three sisters) when I was young, and then taught me to make my own. It was also under her guidance that all of us learned to knit-and crochet, and needlepoint...

Why did I ever take up quilting? Necessity! I was 16 years old and redecorating my impossibly small bedroom. A section of my second quilt, when I was a newbie at quilt making. Armed with a redwork pattern of kittens in a variety of poses and a few yards of calico, I set to work. Twelve embroidered blocks...

Sometimes, machine quilting takes a back seat to color, fabric, and surface design on a quilt. Other times, free-motion quilting is the star. Think spring: Mini quilt with free-motion machine sketching techniques, by Candy Glendening. Even simple quilting motifs can pack a punch when they stand alone...

We have exciting news about "Quilting Arts TV"! Award-winning quilt artist Susan Brubaker Knapp will take over as host, beginning with Season 14. You may know Susan from her beautiful quilts, her many appearances on "QATV" and other TV and radio shows, her teaching in person in the...

Have you taken any photos lately and thought, "That would make a great quilt"? Karen Fricke used thread sketching and ink to create this bee quilt, based on a photograph. If you want use a photo as inspiration for a fiber art piece but don't want to appliqué or piece the image, try...

Usually when hand-dyeing fabric you're trying to put color in. With discharge dyeing, your objective is to remove color in an artistic way. You can create patterns on fabrics using many of the same methods you would use for other surface design processes, including painting and shibori techniques...